Trending at Tolles: How to get a college degree without the debt
You’ve probably heard about the nationwide shortage of nursing and health care workers, but did you know Tolles Career & Technical Center can be the starting point for a zero-debt pathway to a bachelor’s degree in some of these fields?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average of 194,500 openings for registered nurses are projected each year through 2030. Many of these jobs are going unfilled and in late 2021, the American Nurses Association urged our country’s leaders to declare the nursing shortage a national crisis.
This growing demand for nurses and health care workers has changed Tolles’ offerings to help more students interested in pursuing these careers get a head start. Just this school year, we added a third section to our pre-nursing program, allowing us to accept 75 students vs. 50 the previous year.
A fourth section may be warranted soon since, as of this writing, we already have 84 applications for the 2023-24 school year. In addition to offering pre-nursing courses at our main campus in Plain City, Tolles also operates a satellite program for pre-nursing at the Hilliard Innovative Learning Campus.
We will also be launching a seniors-only health care program next fall that gives students the choice of earning either an emergency medical technician (EMT) certification or a State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA) designation.
Those who complete Tolles’ pre-nursing program through either the traditional two-year program or our new seniors-only program will earn their STNA, which allows them to work at hospitals, doctor’s offices, assisted-living centers, long-term care facilities or even as a home health aid.
This direct entry into the workforce allows our graduates to start earning an income immediately. The same can be said about our EMT graduates.
Trending at Tolles:Career prep is college prep – and a great resume builder
Students can then either use their earnings to save for college or opt to go directly into a registered nurse, or RN, program at a two- or four-year college and work part-time while getting their degree.
Some local hospitals like the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children’s will even pay a nursing student’s way through college if they commit to a certain number of work hours each week. This is how Tolles graduates can get a debt-free college education – whether it’s as an RN or even a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or BSN. It’s an amazing pathway I’d like to see more students explore.
Priority enrollment for the 2023-24 school year ends Jan. 16, so visit the Tolles website at tollestech.com to apply. We can help launch your career.
Todd F. Hoadley is the superintendent and CEO of Tolles Career & Technical Center, serving seven central Ohio school districts, including Dublin and Hilliard.
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Trending at Tolles: How to get a college degree without the debt
